Clean Bowl Promise

 

dolittle’s cares about your pet’s food

 
 

You may think that Dolittle’s Clean Bowl Promise is about your pet loving their food so much that they clean their bowl. While we hope that is the result from any of our foods it is not the direct focus of our Clean Bowl Promise. Our Clean Bowl Promise is all about what goes into your pets bowl.

Way back in 1999 Dolittle’s established criteria to evaluate pet foods. It was important for us to establish a strict baseline for foods being offered in our stores. With hundreds of brands available to us we wanted to offer the best of the best.

Today, our criteria are more important than ever. We empathize with our customers who are trying to navigate new trends, new foods, and new advice. The good news is that after all these years Dolittle’s is still doing deep dives and thorough research into all of the brands we sell. We can help you find quality food from companies you can trust. The pet food sold at Dolittle’s is some of the best in the world. It has to be. After all, our pets are our customers too.

Here’s a look at Dolittle’s criteria:

  • Meat first

  • More meat

  • Limited “split” ingredients

  • First run ingredients (primary market)

  • Long list of “no’s”

    • No byproducts

    • No corn

    • No BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin

    • No added sugar

    • No artificial colors

    • No artificial flavors

  • Testing & transparency

  • Who owns the company & where is it made

  • How is the food made (low temp)

  • Added Benefits

 
 

Let’s go for a deep dive -

Meat First
Dolittle’s supports the idea that cats and dogs are carnivores and their dietary needs include meat. Mostly meat. Our foods list meat as the first ingredient and often again as the second or third ingredient.

More Meat
We were shocked to learn that manufacturers can get away with advertising “with beef” and then only provide 3% beef in the food. Our foods are all formulated using at least 50% meat. Most of our foods use 65%. Most grocery brands top out at 16%.

Limited Split Ingredients
There is something of a game that manufacturers can play when listing ingredients. Ingredients must be listed in order of precooked weight. Heaviest ingredients are first on the list. However, the trick is that there are multiple listings possible for a similar ingredient, hence a “split.” Peas are peas but on the label they can be split up as pea, pea fiber, pea starch, and pea flour just to name a few. While these are actually separate ingredients they are all in effect peas. If the manufacturer were to list only “peas” then there’s a good chance it would be the number one ingredient.

First Run Ingredients
Dolittle’s seeks out companies that use ingredients intended for pet food. It may seem strange but there are a number of ingredients that are the by-product of manufacturing another ingredient. Soybean mill-run for example. This ingredient includes the outer casings of soybeans. The soybean is collected for one industry and the shell for another. Shells are ground up and sent to pet food manufacturers. Similar ingredients include: brewers rice, brewers yeast, pecan shells (yes, pecan shells)

Our Big Ol’ List of No
No By Products - the label of “byproduct” is simply too open ended. While there can be dietary benefits to some ingredients lumped in with by-products we would rather see those ingredients listed separately. Seeing them separately (like liver, or heart) takes some of the guesswork out of what’s in your pets food. Plus byproducts can allow for some decidedly non-beneficial ingredients.

  • No Corn
    As much as we love a good corn on the cob in the summer, we do not want it in our pet food. Corn gets treated and mistreated in the pet industry. There’s always a concern of aflatoxin with corn as well as getting GMO crops or corn with glyphosate. There are hundreds of other options beyond corn. We’ll take any of those.

  • No Added Sugar
    Surprise! Pet food companies can add sugar to their foods. Typically you will find a sugar-like ingredient (we’re talking to you glycerin and molasses) in a semi moist kibble. Dry pet food is already nearly 30 to 40% carbohydrate. Maybe we can hold the sugar?

  • No BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin
    These are the bad boys of preservatives. Manufacturers don’t always have to list them on the panel. They can sneak in if an ingredient has been preserved prior to the production of the food. For example: the ingredient “fish” could be created at a fishery and preserved with Ethoxyquin and then shipped to the pet food manufacturer. They would not need to list Ethoxyquin as an ingredient. It’s only listed if they, the manufacturer, adds it. While these preservatives are GRAS (generally regarded as safe) we prefer foods that use natural alternatives like rosemary extract or vitamin E (aka mixed tocopherols)

  • No Artificial Colors
    Who sees in color? Not your dog.

  • No Natural Flavors
    Now you might be saying “hang on, NO natural flavors?” We admit it’s an odd claim and you will definitely find a brand or two in our stores with the ingredient: natural flavor. However, as a general rule we try to avoid it. If we can not avoid it then we go to our brands and ask them exactly what they are using for natural flavor. This is another sneaky ingredient like byproduct that can hide some less than healthy ingredients. Only 80% of natural flavor needs to come from natural sources. Curious right?

  • No Artificial Flavors
    We’re already cautious about natural flavors we sure as heck aren’t going to have artificial flavors in the store.

Transparency & Testing
Wonder how we learn these details about our foods? We call them. Our bands all have pet food nerds that are eager to geek out on pet food. We call, we ask, we learn. You can too! In some cases you can even chat with a pet food nutritionist. This is all part of their transparency. They have nothing to hide from customers.

Many of our brands use third party testers to check out the ingredients, the manufacturing facilities and the final product. Most companies will hold their product until after the test results come in. Furthermore, those test results are often posted on their websites. The lot code on the bag you buy from us can be referenced with the brand! That’s not a thing with larger food companies.

Want to know a secret? The Department of Agriculture pays us regular visits. They are checking out our consumable products and confirming that they are registered and compliant with the State of South Carolina.

Who Owns The Food & Where is it Made
Dolittle’s feels it is important to know the person or people behind a food. Most of our foods are privately held companies. Sometimes investment groups will step and help a brand get bigger. If the original owner stays on board then we usually hang around but if the owner steps back from a company then Dolittle’s will begin looking for the next great brand. Our history has shown us that as owners step back, quality steps down.

The majority of the brands in Dolittle’s are made in the United States. A few are made in Canada and one is coming from Italy.

How is the food made
Dolittle’s likes to know every ingredient going into the brands we carry. Thankfully our companies are completely transparent about what is going into the food. Their web sites will tell us where an ingredient is coming from and in most cases what the purpose is of that ingredient. The foods we carry use a variety of cooking methods from twin screw extrusion to oven baked or air dried. Whatever method they employ they are keeping the temps low and processing minimal so that the integrity of the ingredient holds.

Added Benefits
We’re always on the lookout for beneficial ingredients. From the simple addition of berries for urinary tract support or an extensive list of pre and probiotics we like seeing pet foods that go the extra step.

Bonus Points
Recently we have seen more of our brands step up to make commitments to the environment. We have seen them become B Corp and make pledges to become carbon neutral. Others use sustainable seafood, Humanely Raised guidelines, and rotational farming to maintain healthy livestock. More companies are improving the environment by switching to energy alternatives like wind power and by using recyclable packaging. Other brands are even seeking out sustainable protein sources like insects and mushrooms. We believe all of these actions to be steps in the right direction.

You might be surprised to learn how many foods do not meet Dolittle’s Clean Bowl Promise. We have access to hundreds of brands however the greater portion of those foods do not meet our criteria.

 
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